Company/developer Canonical Ltd.

/Ubuntu Foundation
OS family Unix-like
Source model open source
Initial release 20 October 2004; 7 years ago
Available language(s) Multilingual (more than 55)
Package manager dpkg (front-ends like Synaptic available)
Supported platforms I386, AMD64, ARM[3][4]
Kernel type Monolithic (Linux kernel)
Default user interface 4.10 to 10.10: GNOME 2.x
11.04: Unity shell on top of GNOME 2.x
11.10: Unity shell on top of GNOME 3.x
License Mainly the GNU GPL and various other free software
licenses

Ill
ustration 1: Ubuntu 11.10

Contents

1 History and development process

2 Features
2.1 System requirements
2.2 Installation

3 Package classification and support

3.1 Availability of third-party software

4 Releases
5 Variants
5.1 Ubuntu Server Edition
5.2 Cloud computing

6 Development

7 Adoption and reception

7.1 Installed base
7.1.1 Known large scale deployments
7.2 Critical reception

8 Local Communities (LoCos)

9 Vendor support

10 See also

11 References
12 Bibliography

13 External links

Ubuntu Features:
1. Web browsing: Ubuntu has everything you need to browse the web
quickly and safely. Mozilla Firefox comes as standard and you can
choose alternative browsers like Google Chrome from the Ubuntu
Software Center.
2. Office application: Create professional documents, spreadsheets
and presentations with Ubuntu. LibreOffice is easy to use, packed
with the features you need, and it’s completely free.
Ubuntu is highly compatible with Microsoft Office. That means you
can open and edit files like Word documents, Excel spreadsheets
and PowerPoint presentations, and share them with other users
quickly and easily.
3. Social and email: Ubuntu is packed with apps for quick and easy
communication. Empathy helps you integrate your chat accounts.
And with Thunderbird, you can access your emails, address book and
calendar. Being connected for work or fun has never been so easy.
4. Music and mobile: Play, create and edit MP3s, stream music to
your PC or phone, buy music in the Ubuntu One Music Store or
connect to Spotify and Last.fm. Ubuntu's got everything you need to
listen to your music, your way.
Sync your music with Ubuntu One and stream your entire collection
to your iPhone or Android phone. You can enjoy unlimited hours
of music streaming, listen to songs while you're offline, and you
can even pick up where you left off if you’re interrupted by a call.
5. Photos and videos: Ubuntu is full of free apps to help you manage,
edit and share your photos and videos with the world, whatever
gadget you use to take them. With fantastic support for cameras and
phones, you won’t need extra drivers to get up and running.
'Device-compatible',Wouldn’t it be great if your computer recognised
your camera or phone straightaway? With Ubuntu, you don’t need to
worry about installation CDs or downloading extra drivers. It
integrates brilliantly with a range of devices.
6. Ubuntu Software Center: The Ubuntu Software Centre gives you
instant access to thousands of free and open-source applications. And
now you can buy apps from some of the leading providers too. All
our software is easy to find and install so you can have a customised
desktop that suits you in no time.
Thousands of free applications: With the Ubuntu Software Centre,
you can pick the apps you want so you won’t have anything on
your computer you don’t need. And with thousands of apps to
choose from, you’ll be spoilt for choice.
Categories:
 Accessories
 Games
 Science & Engineering
 Universal Access
  Graphics
 Sound & Video
 Education
 Internet
 Fonts
 Office
Ratings and reviews: Each application comes with ratings and
reviews to make it easier for you to decide which apps you want to
install.
Create cool application: Develop and publish your apps on Ubuntu,
the world's third-most popular desktop OS.
7. Ubuntu One: Ubuntu One is the personal cloud that brings your
digital life together, so you can enjoy your content, your way,
wherever you are. With our suite of cloud services including storage,
sync, sharing and streaming - you have immediate access to your
music collection, favorite photos, videos, important documents and
more, at any time and from any device.
Ubuntu One is easy to install and easy to use – everyone gets our sync
services and 5 GB of storage for free, and if you pay a little extra, you can
add Music Streaming and Storage to suit your own needs.
Ubuntu One was initially launched in May 2009 to provide sustainable
revenue for Ubuntu. It is a suite of online services from Canonical. The
service enables users to store and sync files online and between computers
and share files and folders with others using file synchronization. Unlike
the traditional storage application and service, what sets Ubuntu One apart
is additional features like the integration with other services. Ubuntu One
offers integration with Evolution for syncing contacts and with Tomboy for
notes due to the access to the local CouchDB instance. Further possibilities
include the capability of editing the contacts, as well as the Tomboy notes,
online via the Ubuntu One Web interface.
 Why use Ubuntu?

Ubuntu is easy to use

It’s easy to trial and install

It’s beautiful, stylish and fast

Community support

It’s free and open source

No viruses

We’re here to help

It’s up-to-date

Official Ubuntu Documentation

Why is it free?

It’s open source

It’s managed and funded by Canonical.

Free software
Ubuntu software is free. Always was, always will be. Free software gives
everyone the freedom to use it however they want and share with whoever
they like. This freedom has huge benefits. At one end of the spectrum it
enables the Ubuntu community to grow and share its collective experience
and expertise to continually improve all things Ubuntu. At the other, we
are able to give access to essential software for those who couldn’t
otherwise afford it – an advantage that’s keenly felt by individuals and
organizations all over the world.
Quoting the Free Software Foundation's, 'What is Free Software,' the
freedoms at the core of free software are defined as:
The freedom to run the program, for any purpose.
 The freedom to study how the program works and adapt it to your
needs.
 The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help others.
 The freedom to improve the program and release your improvements
to the public, so that everyone benefits.

Free Software Foundation: What they do?

Open source
Open source is collective power in action. The power of a worldwide
community of highly skilled experts that build, share and improve the very
latest software together - then make it available to everyone.
The term open source was coined in 1998 to remove the ambiguity in the
English word 'free' and it continues to enjoy growing success and wide
recognition. Although some people regard ‘free’ and ‘open source' as
competing movements with different ends, we do not. Ubuntu proudly
includes members who identify with both.
Originally coined in 1998, the term open source came out of the free
software movement, a collaborative force going strong since the dawn of
computing in the 1950s. This early community was responsible for the
development of many of the first operating systems, software and, in 1969,
the Internet itself.
The open-source community is thriving and today boasts some of the best
brains in the business. The aim has not changed: free systems and software
should be available to everybody, wherever they are.
Without open source, many of the systems and applications we take for
granted simply would not exist. All the big players in computing come
from, or owe a huge creative debt to, the open-source community, and
continue to rely on its talent and expertise when developing new products.
In the spirit of open source, Ubuntu is absolutely free to download, use,
share and improve however and whenever you like.

What is open source?

There are 10 core principles of open-source software:
1. Software must be free to redistribute.
2. The program must include source code.
3. The license must allow people to experiment with and redistribute
modifications.
4. Users have a right to know who is responsible for the software they
are using.
5. There should be no discrimination against any person or group.
6. The license must not restrict anyone from making use of the program
in a specific field.
7. No-one should need to acquire an additional license to use or
redistribute the program.
8. The license must not be specific to a product.
9. The license must not restrict other software.
10. The license must be technology-neutral.

About the Open Source Initiative

The Open Source Definition

Open Source Licenses

Open Standards Requirement

Open Source Education

What is Ubuntu?
Ubuntu is a complete desktop Linux operating system, freely available
with both community and professional support. The Ubuntu community is
built on the ideas enshrined in the Ubuntu Manifesto: that software should
be available free of charge, that software tools should be usable by people
in their local language and despite any disabilities, and that people should
have the freedom to customize and alter their software in whatever way
they see fit. Ubuntu is suitable for both desktop and server use.
Ubuntu will always be free of charge, and there is no extra fee for the
“enterprise edition”, we make our very best work available to everyone on
the same Free terms.
 Ubuntu will always be free of charge, and there is no extra fee for the
“enterprise edition”, we make our very best work available to
everyone on the same Free terms.
 Ubuntu includes the very best in translations and accessibility
infrastructure that the Free Software community has to offer, to make
Ubuntu usable by as many people as possible.
 Ubuntu is shipped in stable and regular release cycles; a new release
will be shipped every six months. You can use the current stable
release or the current development release. A release will be
supported for 18 months.
 Ubuntu is entirely committed to the principles of open source
software development; we encourage people to use open source
software, improve it and pass it on.

What is Debian?
Debian is an all-volunteer organization dedicated to developing free
software and promoting the ideals of the Free Software community. The
Debian Project began in 1993, when Ian Murdock issued an open
invitation to software developers to contribute to a complete and coherent
software distribution based on the relatively new Linux kernel. That
relatively small band of dedicated enthusiasts, originally funded by the
Free Software Foundation and influenced by the GNU philosophy, has
grown over the years into an organization of around 890 Debian
Developers.
Debian Developers are involved in a variety of activities, including Web
and FTP site administration, graphic design, legal analysis of software
licenses, writing documentation, and, of course, maintaining software
packages.
In the interest of communicating our philosophy and attracting developers
who believe in the principles that Debian stands for, the Debian Project has
published a number of documents that outline our values and serve as
guides to what it means to be a Debian Developer:

 The Debian Social Contract is a statement of Debian's commitments

to the Free Software Community. Anyone who agrees to abide to the
Social Contract may become a maintainer. Any maintainer can
introduce new software into Debian — provided that the software
meets our criteria for being free, and the package follows our quality
standards.
 The Debian Free Software Guidelines are a clear and concise
statement of Debian's criteria for free software. The DFSG is a very
influential document in the Free Software Movement, and was the
foundation of the The Open Source Definition.
 The Debian Policy Manual is an extensive specification of the
Debian Project's standards of quality.
Debian developers are also involved in a number of other projects; some
specific to Debian, others involving some or all of the Linux community.
Some examples include:

 The Linux Standard Base (LSB) is a project aimed at standardizing

the basic GNU/Linux system, which will enable third-party software
and hardware developers to easily design programs and device
drivers for Linux-in-general, rather than for a specific GNU/Linux
distribution.
 The Filesystem Hierarchy Standard (FHS) is an effort to standardize
the layout of the Linux file system. The FHS will allow software
developers to concentrate their efforts on designing programs,
without having to worry about how the package will be installed in
different GNU/Linux distributions.
 Debian Jr. is an internal project, aimed at making sure Debian has
something to offer to our youngest users.
 Ubuntu and Debian

Ubuntu and Debian are distinct but parallel and closely linked systems.
The Ubuntu project seeks to complement the Debian project in the
following areas:

Ubuntu and Debian are closely related.

Ubuntu builds on the foundations of Debian's architecture and
infrastructure, but has a different community and release process.

About Debian
Debian is 'the rock upon which Ubuntu is built'.
Debian is a volunteer project that works on developing a GNU/Linux
operating system. The Debian project began more than a decade ago and
has since grown to comprise more than 1,000 members with official
developer status, and many more volunteers and contributors. It has
expanded to encompass over 20,000 'packages' of free and open-source
applications and documentation.

About Ubuntu
Ubuntu provides a system based on Debian with frequent, regular releases
and a consistent desktop interface. It is backed by Canonical's commercial
services and support on both the desktop and the server. It releases critical
bug fixes and is never more than six months away from the latest version
of anything in the open-source world.

What is GNU/Linux?
Linux is an operating system: a series of programs that let you interact
with your computer and run other programs.
An operating system consists of various fundamental programs which are
needed by your computer so that it can communicate and receive
instructions from users; read and write data to hard disks, tapes, and
printers; control the use of memory; and run other software. The most
important part of an operating system is the kernel. In a GNU/Linux
system, Linux is the kernel component. The rest of the system consists of
other programs, many of which were written by or for the GNU Project.
Because the Linux kernel alone does not form a working operating system,
we prefer to use the term “GNU/Linux” to refer to systems that many
people casually refer to as “Linux”.
Linux is modelled on the Unix operating system. From the start, Linux was
designed to be a multi-tasking, multi-user system. These facts are enough
to make Linux different from other well-known operating systems.
However, Linux is even more different than you might imagine. In contrast
to other operating systems, nobody owns Linux. Much of its development
is done by unpaid volunteers.
Development of what later became GNU/Linux began in 1984, when the
Free Software Foundation began development of a free Unix-like
operating system called GNU.
The GNU Project has developed a comprehensive set of free software
tools for use with Unix™ and Unix-like operating systems such as Linux.
These tools enable users to perform tasks ranging from the mundane (such
as copying or removing files from the system) to the arcane (such as
writing and compiling programs or doing sophisticated editing in a variety
of document formats).
While many groups and individuals have contributed to Linux, the largest
single contributor is still the Free Software Foundation, which created not
only most of the tools used in Linux, but also the philosophy and the
community that made Linux possible.
The Linux kernel first appeared in 1991, when a Finnish computing
science student named Linus Torvalds announced an early version of a
replacement kernel for Minix to the Usenet newsgroup
comp.os.minix. See Linux International's Linux History Page.
Linus Torvalds continues to coordinate the work of several hundred
developers with the help of a number of subsystem maintainers. There is
an official website for the Linux kernel. More information about the
linux-kernel mailing list can be found on the linux-kernel mailing list
FAQ.
Linux users have immense freedom of choice in their software. For
example, Linux users can choose from a dozen different command line
shells and several graphical desktops. This selection is often bewildering
to users of other operating systems, who are not used to thinking of the
command line or desktop as something that they can change.
Linux is also less likely to crash, better able to run more than one program
at the same time, and more secure than many operating systems. With
these advantages, Linux is the fastest growing operating system in the
server market. More recently, Linux has begun to be popular among home
and business users as well.

What is Linux?
Linux is a clone of the operating system Unix, written from scratch by
Linus Torvalds with assistance from a loosely-knit team of hackers across
the Net. It aims towards POSIX and Single UNIX Specification
compliance.
It has all the features you would expect in a modern fully-fledged Unix,
including true multitasking, virtual memory, shared libraries, demand
loading, shared copy-on-write executables, proper memory management,
and multistack networking including IPv4 and IPv6.
Although originally developed first for 32-bit x86-based PCs (386 or
higher), today Linux also runs on (at least) the Alpha AXP, Sun SPARC,
Motorola 68000, PowerPC, ARM, Hitachi SuperH, IBM S/390, MIPS,
HP PA-RISC, Intel IA-64, AMD x86-64, AXIS CRIS, Renesas M32R,
Atmel AVR32, Renesas H8/300, NEC V850, Tensilica Xtensa, and
Analog Devices Blackfin architectures; for many of these architectures in
both 32- and 64-bit variants.
Linux is easily portable to most general-purpose 32- or 64-bit
architectures as long as they have a paged memory management unit
(PMMU) and a port of the GNU C compiler (gcc) (part of The GNU
Compiler Collection, GCC). Linux has also been ported to a number of
architectures without a PMMU, although functionality is then obviously
somewhat limited. See the µClinux project for more info.

About Copyrights and Software Licenses

We're sure that you've read some of the licenses that come with most
commercial software — they usually say that you can only use one copy of
the software on a single computer. This system's license isn't like that at
all. We encourage you to put a copy of Debian GNU/Linux on every
computer in your school or place of business. Lend your installation media
to your friends and help them install it on their computers! You can even
make thousands of copies and sell them — albeit with a few restrictions.
Your freedom to install and use the system comes directly from Ubuntu
being based on free software.
Calling software free doesn't mean that the software isn't copyrighted, and
it doesn't mean that CDs containing that software must be distributed at no
charge. Free software, in part, means that the licenses of individual
programs do not require you to pay for the privilege of distributing or
using those programs. Free software also means that not only may anyone
extend, adapt, and modify the software, but that they may distribute the
results of their work as well.
The Ubuntu project, as a pragmatic concession to its users, does make
some packages available that do not meet our criteria for being free. These
packages are not part of the official distribution, however, and are only
available from the multiverse area of Ubuntu mirrors; see the Ubuntu
web site for more information about the layout and contents of the
archives.
Many of the programs in the system are licensed under the GNU General
Public License, often simply referred to as “the GPL”. The GPL requires
you to make the source code of the programs available whenever you
distribute a binary copy of the program; that provision of the license
ensures that any user will be able to modify the software. Because of this
[1]
provision, the source code for all such programs is available in the
Ubuntu system.
There are several other forms of copyright statements and software
licenses used on the programs in Ubuntu. You can find the copyrights and
licenses for every package installed on your system by looking in the file
/usr/share/doc/package-name/copyright once you've installed
a package on your system.
For more information about licenses and how Ubuntu determines whether
software is free enough to be included in the main distribution, see the
Ubuntu License Policy.
The most important legal notice is that this software comes with no
warranties. The programmers who have created this software have done so
for the benefit of the community. No guarantee is made as to the suitability
of the software for any given purpose. However, since the software is free,
you are empowered to modify that software to suit your needs — and to
enjoy the benefits of the changes made by others who have extended the
software in this way.
 How to Install Ubuntu?
There are many common ways to install and run Ubuntu. You can run
Ubuntu:
 as your sole operating system (single booting).
 in addition to another operating system (dual booting).
 within your existing operating system (virtualization). See
VirtualMachines for installation options in a virtual environment.
 from your CD disc drive, using the Live CD.
 from your USB drive (on computers from 2004 and younger,
roughly).
 in addition to Windows, using Window's Boot Manager, via the Wubi
installation

To Install Ubuntu with the graphical CD

1. Insert the Ubuntu disc into your CD drive.

2. Start or restart your computer. The Language screen appears. If you
reboot your computer and do not see the language selection screen
(seen below without the option to try without installing), please refer
to BootFromCD.
 3. S
e
l
e
c
t

your desired language and click Install Ubuntu 10.04 LTS. The
Where are you? window appears.

4. S
e
l
e
c
t

the location closest to your location and click Forward. The

Keyboard layout window appears.
 5. I
f

the Suggested option is not correct, select the correct keyboard

layout. Click Forward. The Allocate drive space window appears.

6.
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If you want to install Ubuntu over your entire hard drive, then Select
Erase disk and install Ubuntu and select the hard drive that you
want to install Ubuntu.
or
7. If

you want to install Ubuntu on a single partition Dual Booting, Select

Guided – resize. In the New partition size area, drag the area
between the two partitions to create your desired partition sizes.
Click Forward.

8. T
h
e

Who are you? window appears.

 9. E
nt
er

the requested information, and click Forward. The Ready to install

window appears.

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Verify that the language, layout, location, and personal information are
correct and click Install. The installation wizard begins.
 11.
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When the installation wizard finishes, the Installation complete
window appears.

System Requirements
Ubuntu does not impose hardware requirements beyond the requirements
of the Linux kernel and the GNU tool-sets. Therefore, any architecture or
platform to which the Linux kernel, libc, gcc, etc. have been ported, and
for which an Ubuntu port exists, can run Ubuntu.
Rather than attempting to describe all the different hardware
configurations which are supported for Intel x86, this section contains
general information and pointers to where additional information can be
found.

Supported Architectures:
Ubuntu 11.10 supports three major architectures and several variations of each architecture known
as “flavors”. One other architecture (IBM/Motorola PowerPC) has an unofficial port.
Architecture Ubuntu Subarchitecture Flavor
Designation
Intel x86-based i386
AMD64 & Intel EM64T amd64
ARM armel Marvell Dove dove
Freescale i.MX51 imx51
TI OMAP omap
Versatile versatile
IBM/Motorola PowerPC powerpc PowerMac pmac

Meeting Minimum Hardware Requirements:

Once you have gathered information about your computer's hardware,
check that your hardware will let you do the type of installation that you
want to do.
Depending on your needs, you might manage with less than some of the
recommended hardware listed in the table below. However, most users risk
being frustrated if they ignore these suggestions.
A Pentium 4, 1GHz system is the minimum recommended for a desktop system.
Install Type RAM (minimal) RAM (recommended) Hard Drive
No desktop 64 megabytes 256 megabytes 1 gigabyte
With Desktop 64 megabytes 512 megabytes 5 gigabytes
Ubuntu

Ubuntu is a computer operating system based on the Debian

Linux distribution and distributed as free and open source
software, using its own desktop environment. It is named after the
Southern African philosophy of Ubuntu ("humanity towards
others"). Ubuntu is designed primarily for use on personal
computers, although a server edition also exists.

Ubuntu is sponsored by the UK-based company Canonical Ltd.,

owned by South African entrepreneur Mark Shuttleworth.
Canonical generates revenue by selling technical support and
services related to Ubuntu, while the operating system itself is
entirely free of charge. The Ubuntu project is committed to the
principles of free software development; people are encouraged to
use free software, improve it, and pass it on.